The Rest is History
by Kanetsuki
Summary: The story of how Kakei and Saiga met. Well, mostly.


Hello, dear readers. With this story, started in 2006 (?), I break my year hiatus. Many heartfelt thanks to everyone who has read my stories, reviewed, favourited... it means so much to me. I hope to fill 2008 with many a fanfiction, and I'll try to fulfil some of the requests made a year or more ago - if no one minds the long wait.

So, without further ado, I give you...

- - -

"Giyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The scream was heard three blocks away.

Saiga was rather proud of himself – that was a new record. He watched the small brunette boy writhe and squirm, his large, customary grin in place. Well aware of the jealous glare the other drugstore worker was giving him, he inched closer to Kazahaya, making him wriggle all the more.

"Now, now, Saiga. Leave the poor boy alone. I need him to be able to work today… and especially this afternoon." Saiga's master beckoned. He turned on his heel, trench coat swirling out behind him, and walked off in the direction of that silky voice.

Wrapping his arms around the owner of the voice, he asked "Aww, can't I have a _little_ fun?"

"Aren't I fun enough for you?" Kakei teased him.

"You're _more_ than enough fun." He whispered into his lover's neck.

This elicited a delicious giggle from Kakei before he eased himself out of Saiga's arms and turned to face him.

"You'll have to create your own fun this afternoon, dearest. The boys will be out on a side job and I need you—"

"To watch the store." Saiga finished off. "Will I be _paid_?" He asked with a mischievous wink that no one could see behind his ever present sunglasses. Kakei, of course, could always tell exactly what expression he wore behind those dark lenses and returned the wink, stepping just out of Saiga's grasp.

"We'll see. I expect nothing but your best." Kakei answered, treating Saiga like he treated the other younger workers in his store.

"I'm up to the challenge." Saiga smirked and went off to bother Kazahaya, and by extension Rikuo, again.

- - -

"Schnzzzzzzzzzzzzz….zzzz…zzzzzzzzzz…"

Three hours later Green Drugstore was empty, save for the man minding the counter.

Although it wasn't the case right at this particular moment, contrary to popular belief, Saiga did not sleep ninety per cent of the time. This would explain how he could sleep and smoke _at the same time_. Or maybe not. Saiga's powers were mysterious and often beyond mortal comprehension.

He phased in and out of consciousness, waking himself every so often to check up on the store. After all, Kakei would be _very nasty_ to him if anything were to happen on his watch.

Briefly he wondered where the boys were, and what they were doing. He always liked it when they came back from their little side jobs. They always had interesting and amusing stories to tell, and Kakei would finally spill the rest of the details that he so delighted in keeping from Saiga. Sometimes the two of them would turn it into a game, where Saiga had to guess what was going to happen, or what Kakei had sent them out for. Other times Kakei refused, point blank, to tell Saiga anything, and he had to wait while the curiosity drove him mad. Often, Saiga never found out at all.

Eventually Saiga went back to doing what he often did whilst appearing to sleep – he remembered. Ruffling through his memories like flicking through a cherished photo album. Here, the picnic he had made when he and Kakei had gone sakura watching last spring; here was the time Kazahaya had practically sexually assaulted Rikuo when he had picked up the other boy's chocolate cravings; and here, the day he and Kakei first met. He paused on this one, savouring it. One of his most precious memories.

- - -

It had been a day like any other. Saiga had been taking a stroll, revelling in the crisp autumn air, and the fact that, for once, he actually had no work to do that day. He had been wandering around aimlessly, as he was wont to do, kicking up dry brown leaves and winking at passers by, when a particular building caught his eye. It was a pharmacy, the newly whitewashed walls gleaming in the cold autumn sunlight. He read the sign.

_Midori Drugstore…hm…_

It wasn't a particularly unusual building, the business wasn't a strange one, but he felt somehow drawn to it and, not being one to ignore his intuition, he followed his instincts and casually strolled over the road for a closer look.

It looked as though they were just setting up – big, burly men were lifting heavy boxes and furniture, whilst being fastidiously directed by someone who sounded more than a little frustrated.

That voice though. It was commanding – just listening to it made you want to follow the orders given, or suffer dire consequences. But somehow it was also silky, like spider's thread – fine and light, yet still bound to entrap without any effort at all. He knew he needed to hear more of that voice. Had he been familiar with the old European tales, he might have likened its effects to those of a Siren's song.

Slinking around the edge of the white moving van parked outside the front of the store, he stopped to listen once more, careful to remain out of sight. Of course, that was his specialty. For such a loud person, it seemed unusual that he had the curious talent to remain unnoticed in almost any situation if he wanted to.

"Don't break that, or I'll ask you to replace it." The object of Saiga's affection instructed curtly, somehow insinuating that the means to replacing any broken property would be very unpleasant indeed. Out of the corner of his eye, Saiga thought he saw one of the moving men shudder. The threat sent shivers down his own spine, although perhaps for different reasons. He knew that if only a voice could have this much effect on him, he _had_ to see the source of it.

But how to go about it?

Saiga was never usually one to worry about these things, preferring to just go barrelling in, but… he wanted to make a good impression here.

A _really_ good impression.

For one of the first times in his life – in fact, probably _the_ first time ever – Saiga felt shy. He would have spent at least another ten minutes thinking about how to introduce himself, if he hadn't noticed some heavy cardboard boxes starting to shift. Instead, the next three seconds were a blur – most people only saw the smudge of a brown trench-coat as Saiga deftly caught the falling box, not a moment too soon, placed it on the ground and even managed to get in a bow at the end.

If that didn't impress, he didn't know what would.

The owner of the voice just stared at him through a pair of spectacles with wide eyes.

"Thank you" he murmured in surprise.

Beautiful. That was the only word to describe the vision in front of Saiga. No, beautiful didn't do this apparition justice. Gorgeous, stunning, insanely attractive – those were adjectives Saiga might have used. But perhaps not on their first meeting.

The store owner's surprise seemed to have worn off and he now wore a cool, slightly amused expression.

"May I ask – the contents of the vehicle aren't visible from the side, so how did you know that box was going to hit me?" He asked with interest.

Saiga treated him to a trademark smile.

"There are a lot of things I know."

"Oh?" The young man countered.

"I know what you're having for dinner tonight."

"You don't even know my name." the man pointed out, poking Saiga's chest to make his point.

"You could tell me." Saiga replied slyly.

"Oh, but I'd like to know what I'm having for dinner." The man insisted playfully.

"The best okonomiyaki in Tokyo, firefly-sama."

The man stared at Saiga in bemused shock – how could this tall, dark and handsome stranger have possibly known?

Saiga could only respond to this with a wink behind his dark glasses – he was far too entranced now. And this was far to fun. Those sharp green eyes glinted with a mischievous and keen interest in him – it was intoxicating.

He wanted more.

As if responding directly to Saiga's desire, the beautiful man spoke once more, "I'm afraid I have an appointment to keep tonight," shooting down Saiga's intentions, to smoulder on the ground with the autumn leaves, "I will see you here tomorrow." He said it with such certainty that Saiga didn't doubt it even for a moment.

At this point they were interrupted by more moving-men awaiting instructions; Saiga took it as his cue to leave.

"Until tomorrow, firefly-sama." To his annoyance, the wrench of having to part with this perfect stranger somehow found its way into his voice. The stranger's eyes caught his own, piercing through his dark glasses.

"Until tomorrow." He smiled.

Saiga thrust his hands deep into his coat pockets and turned to cross the road, jauntily dodging the traffic as he whistled an old tune. He hadn't gone five steps when he heard the voice of the one he had just left, calling out to him.

"Hey! My name – it's Kakei." the man shouted from across the road.

Saiga nodded in understanding and whirled round again, leaving the other man to wonder at his own identity. Hmmm, Saiga thought, 'ka' for flower and 'kei' for firefly – I should have guessed. And he walked away, heart pounding and head churning, into the cool, breezy afternoon.

- - -

Back in the present, a snoozing Saiga was woken abruptly by the crash of the front door being violently opened and two fighting boys stomping inside.

"You boys get lucky?" He asked with a smirk, from behind the counter.

"No, we did not _get lucky_ – thanks to this asshole we got chased, stared at, humiliated, blown about, almost set on _fire_, harassed—"

"We got what Kakei asked for. Where is he?" Rikuo answered over the top of a red-faced, ranting Kazahaya. Saiga chuckled at the pair, making no effort to hide his amusement."

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Kazahaya shouted loud enough to bring the building down around them. Saiga stuck his fingers in his ears and shrugged at Rikuo to indicate that he had no idea where the aforementioned Kakei was. Rikuo clamped his hand over Kazahaya's mouth, further infuriating the now struggling boy. Saiga laughed even harder at Kazahaya's predicament and was determined to see how far he could take advantage of the boy before Rikuo lost his cool. He was in mid-leap over the counter when a high, clear voice sounded over the cacophony, "Now, now, boys. Too much fun in one day will wear you out, and I need you in my store again tomorrow." A cheerful Kakei appeared in the doorway with his arms full of shopping bags. His smile switched instantly to a stern expression as he noticed Saiga, frozen, over the counter-top. "Saiga," he intoned sweetly, "what have I told you about leaping over my counter?"

Saiga lowered his head like a scolded puppy before slinking over to wrap his arms around the shopping-bag laden Kakei. "Let me make it up to you?" he whispered playfully into Kakei's ear. Mollified for the moment, Kakei ignored his request, instead asking about Rikuo and Kazahaya's success. Rikuo nodded, removing his hand from its place over Kazahaya's mouth and reached into his pocket, drawing out a small, ornate key.

"Well done, boys. It wasn't too much trouble, I hope?" Kakei asked sweetly, knowing full well how difficult the task had been. Kazahaya glared at him, knowing better than to say something; Rikuo, however, was more than happy to complain.

"Yeah, no thanks to _this_ idiot," he gestured at Kazahaya, "Next time, I want to be paid extra for keeping him out of trouble."  
"What are you talking about?! You practically did nothing! Don't listen to him, Kakei-san!" Kazahaya whined in rebuttal. "Besides," he added, "I'm the one who found this." And smugly fished a small trinket out of his pocket, which was immediately snatched out of his hand by Rikuo "And _I'm_ the one who actually got it." The taller boy explained, grinning at Kazahaya's indignation.

Kakei held out his hand, into which Rikuo obediently dropped the trinket with a self-satisfied smirk. Kakei examined it closely, his expression giving nothing of his final judgement away. After a long, suspenseful pause, he declared that it was indeed valuable, quite valuable, and suggested that perhaps the boys deserved compensation for their extra efforts. Kazahaya's eyes gleamed.

"How about a treat?" Kakei suggested. Rikuo looked nonplussed; the last 'treat' Kakei had bestowed, had resulted in him having to loan Kazahaya a fortnight's wages in order to satisfy a mah-jong debt with their employer.

"Um, what sort of treat, Kakei-san?" A wary Kazahaya asked.

"I spent all day bailing this idiot out of trouble – I'm not wasting half my pay on a mah-jong debt." Rikuo warned. The other boy spun round, fangs bared, yelling

"Shut up! You did _not_, you giant, luggy, jerky _thing_! Why do you always say that? Stop helping me then, if it's so much trouble for you!"

"That's more trouble than it's worth. Kakei will make me compensate him, and then I'll be in more debt than you are."

"You unfeeling bastard! If something happened to _you_, I'd worry about more than money."

"You couldn't afford me."

"_Ahem. _How about_ dinner_." Kakei managed to interject before Kazahaya could supply another rebuttal. The promise of food, food that he did not have to pay for, silenced him at once. Rikuo rolled his eyes, wondering whether a free meal was worth having to share it with the present company.

"What do you think, Saiga?" Kakei turned to his minion. Saiga caught his eye,

"I know a great okonomiyaki restaurant."

"Then it's settled. We'll leave as soon as Saiga has finished putting away the shopping." Satisfied, he dumped the shopping bags into Saiga's arms and busied himself with closing for the night.

On his way out the door, Saiga thought back once more to that first meeting. Back to the moment his eyes had first met his beloved Kakei's. Back to the point when he had known, without any doubt in his mind, that this was his soul mate.

The rest is history.

- - -

- - - end - - -

- - -

[notes:

Saiga's name is comprised of the kanji

-sai, meaning purification, Buddhist food, room, worship, avoid, alike

-ga , meaning high mountain

Kakei's name is comprised of the kanji

-ka, meaning flower

-kei, meaning firefly, lightning bug

According to _Jeffery's Kanji Lookup_ (I can't post the link here, contact me if you'd like it)


End file.
